Cambridge, Mass. (December 8, 2021) – Senior Maya Nielan (Danville, Calif.) of the MIT women's soccer team was named the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Women's Soccer Academic All-American of the Year while four other Engineers also earned Academic All-America accolades. Joining Nielan on the first team was fellow senior Karenna Groff (Weston, Mass.) while junior Ava Gillikin (Flemington, N.J.), and senior Eva Anderson (Edina, Minn.) earned second team honors and sophomore Meagan Rowlett (Dana Point, Calif.) registered third team laurels. Nielan and Rowlett were two of 11 honorees with perfect GPAs.
 
Nielan becomes the 17^th Engineer to earn the Academic All-America of the Year honor and is the first member of the women's soccer program to be honored with the award. Overall, the program has had 22 student-athletes be named Academic All-Americans and as a whole, and the five student-athletes were the most honorees in team history. MIT has placed 365 student-athletes on the Academic All-America teams and between both soccer programs, the Engineers combined to place seven student-athletes on the teams this season, which led Division III.
 
 
Maya Nielan

• Three-Time CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team member, first in program-history.
• Pursuing a master's in mechanical engineering and computer science.
• B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science.
• B.S. in mechanical engineering with product design.
• Has a perfect 5.0 GPA.
• Had internships at Apple and the Boeing Company.
• MIT Global Teaching Labs Instructor and undergraduate researcher at MIT Gear Lab.
• Taught AI learning concepts to high school students.
• Team captain and started 15 games and scored three goals with one assist.  

Karenna Groff

• Second Academic All-America honor; 2020 Second-Team Academic All-America
• Biological engineering major with a 4.9 GPA.
• Co-Founded open PPE which was an open-source relief effort to address the PPE shortage during the height of the pandemic.
• Emergency medical technician at MIT EMS.
• Research assistant at WONDER Maternal Mortality Reduction.
• Research assistant at the MIT Department of Urban Planning and a course developer and instructor at MITx on edX.
• SAAC Co-President.
• NEWMAC Athlete of the Year and NEWMAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
• Team captain and started 23 games, finishing the season with 11 goals, eight assists and 30 points.

 
Eva Anderson

• First Time All-Academic Honor.
• Mechanical Engineering major with a minor in energy studies and a concentration in French.
• 4.8 GPA.
• Industrial Energy Product Management Intern at Tesla.
• Member of the MIT Energy and Climate Club.
• Summer analyst at Macquarie.
• Undergraduate researcher at the Trancik Lab
• Tour guide, greeter and Ask-A-Student Respondent for MIT Admissions.
• Team captain and has started every game this season.

 
Ava Gillikin

• Two-time Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-American
• Environmental Engineering major with minor in business management.
• 4.8 GPA.
• Research intern in the European Joint Soil Program.
• Citizens' Climate Lobby Intern where she designed a sustainability & climate change curriculum for a STEM magnet school
• Levitch Leadership Lab rising leader.
• MIT Cordero Lab undergraduate researcher.
• Farmhand and researcher on carbon farming at Misty Acres Farm.
• Finished the season with an 8-2-1 record and a GAA of 0.75.

 
Meagan Rowlett

• First Academic All-America award
• Biological engineering major
• 5.0 GPA
• Volunteered at STEAMPORT where she taught STEM to students.
• Residential Director at MIT MedLinks.
• Medical scribe at Murphy Sports Medicine.
• Tutors students in a variety of subjects.
• Volunteer at The Parish School Vacation Bible School.
• Finished the season with a team-leading 16 goals and 37 points.
• First Team All-NEWMAC.

 
The Engineers wrapped up one of the most successful seasons in program history, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time while also setting a program record with 22 victories during the 2021 season. They finished the year ranked sixth in the country.





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